LEPs: 'Top-down devolution must be met by bottom-up thinking' - Consultation Institute briefing
Only eight of the 24 LEP proposals accepted by the government contain any reference to the ‘Big Society’, according to a briefing paper from the Consultation Institute.
Local Enterprise Partnerships - the engagement challenge also draws on material in the approved proposals to make the point that local decision-making powers must be complemented by engagement with communities and organisations to ensure that decisions are informed by their local knowledge and expertise.
The report says, “Many LEPs obviously find the devolution of decisions to local areas a fundamentally attractive idea, and there are many references to the need for ‘bottom-up’ thinking - or its equivalent. Not everyone makes the connection between this and the Government’s Big Society concept.
“Some, however, clearly do, equating the removal of RDAs and the creation of more local mechanisms with the shrinking state and a greater emphasis on communities (including the business sector) doing things for themselves.”
The importance of proper representation is also asserted, particularly for larger areas where there are far too many stakeholders for LEPs to engage with each one individually.
“This may be uncomfortable for those who imagine that LEPs can be a bureaucracy-free zone, unencumbered by the practices of the public sector.
“For some, a formal consultation comes well within the category called bureaucracy. For others, even the more informal varieties imply unnecessary tick-box processes which are optional at best and expendable at worst.”
This briefing and others on a variety of recent policy themes are available via the link below:
Consultation Institute briefings
17 December 2010
